Faulty Perceptions
by 123me
Summary: Three words and everything changed. "I'm in trouble". He had to help her, but could he really do it if helping her meant hurting the one person he cared about the most. TxG
1. The Call

**Okay, I know I said no new stories, but this just wouldn't go, and IP is almost over.**

**This one has some similarities to Getting Through, but i'm going to try and make it as different as possible, it should have more drama (if that's even possible).**

**This part is short, and i mean really short, mainly because it's only an introduction, the chapters after this should be longer. It doesn't give away much about the story either, which is something else I like.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical, or much else.**

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Three words, that was all it had taken to change his life. Three words. Three words that risked everything he knew.

"I'm in trouble."

**-Risk-**

Troy Bolton glanced up as his girlfriend approached him, the grin gracing her face making him smile. He loved to see her happy. She sat down on his knee as she got to him, resting her head on his shoulder as she looked over at their friends. He wrapped his arms around her, feeling himself relax now that she was in his arms, he hadn't even noticed he was tense.

"Hey." He whispered in her ear, feeling her shiver in response.

"Hi." She answered, smiling as he bushed his lips against her hair.

"Dude." Chad called across the table. "Whipped."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." He informed his friend, lovingly squeezing his girlfriend to him. "You'd be the same."

She laughed before reaching forward and taking some of his fries.

"No girl should steal your food man." Chad insisted. "You don't even question it."

"Chad." Sharpay sighed. "You know that he lets Gabby have whatever she wants."

"I'm warning you dude." Chad lowered his voice, sounding serious. "You don't put your foot down now, she'll walk all over you."

"She already does." Sharpay automatically responded.

Gabriella laughed again, burying her head in Troy's chest, smiling as his hand automatically went to the back of her head to hold it in place.

"It's sweet." Martha spoke up.

"Guys." Troy finally interrupted. "Change of subject?" He turned to Zeke. "Ready for the game next week?"

"More than ready." The other teen replied. "We're gonna kick ass."

"Glad to hear it." He responded, brushing his lips against his girlfriend's head again. "Not that I ever had any doubts."

"Game won't be a problem dude." Chad interrupted. "We're awesome. I know it, you know it, pretty much everyone knows it."

"Sometimes.." Taylor began. "You're too confident."

Gabriella shifted her head in order to look at her friends. "Confidence hasn't really got much to do with it. Its pure talent."

Troy smiled at her, running his hand down her arm before replacing it on her shoulder. "Love you."

"Love you too." She responded.

Troy frowned as his phone rang, and automatically fished it out of his pocket, unsurprised when his girlfriend didn't turn to see who was calling. She trusted him completely, as did he trust her.

He paused at the name on the screen, one of the few contacts he was yet to get a picture for: _Paige_

"I gotta take this." He informed his friends, gently releasing his girlfriend from his grip and settling her on the seat. "I'll be right back." He glanced over at Chad. "You look after her."

He left the table after running a hand through his girlfriends hair, accepting the call as soon as he left the cafeteria.

"Hey."

"Troy, i'm in trouble."

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**Review! Tell me what you think.**


	2. The Questions

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. My laptop broke (RIP) , and by the time I got my new one I'd once again become obsessed with Grey's Anatomy, plus I started college. I've managed to stop watching Greys long enough to write now.**

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She was frowning as she approached him, placing her hands on his shoulders and beginning to massage them through his shirt. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

He turned around, pulling her against his chest before she could detect the lie in his eyes. She had good instincts, she knew him inside out, and it would only hurt her.

"You seemed tense."

He brought his lips to her crown after hearing the statement, intent on distracting her from her line of questioning. She wouldn't accept it for long, he knew that, she was a hard girl to distract, but they only had a couple of minutes before class, he had a chance.

He released her slightly, pressing his lips to her forehead, then her nose, before placing them on her own lips. He frowned when it took her a while to respond, she was worried, he knew she was, but she had no reason to be.

"You're beautiful." He tried when she broke the kiss, but was silenced by her stern, concerned eyes.

"You're hiding something."

"Can't hide anything from you, Gabs." He forced a laugh, kissing her lightly. "You notice everything."

He smiled slightly at the genuine laugh that escaped her lips. Sometimes he hated that he loved her so damn much. Maybe if he didn't he wouldn't think twice about telling her everything. About Paige's plea for help. He did though, he did love her, and until he knew what was going on, she couldn't find out anything. Until he knew the details, he couldn't risk telling her anything that could put her in danger. Sometimes, merely knowing something was too much.

He hated keeping things from her, hated the look on her face when she knew he was doing so. He avoided it, shared everything he could with her, but sometimes, it just wasn't possible.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yup." He managed to make himself sound considerably more upbeat, the last thing he wanted was upset over something he wasn't sure he could tell her. "I'm great. You?"

"Troy." She warned, almost making him smile at her raised eyebrows. "You better not be lying to me."

"Lying!" He exclaimed, feigning innocence. "To you! Never!" He refrained from sighing in relief at the loud shrill of the bell signalling the end of her enquiry, kissing her once again, placing a hand on her cheek as he did so. "You better get to class." He chuckled as she automatically pouted. "I'll see you right after, take you home."

"Will you come in this time?"

She made the request almost every day, and he always responded with the same question. "Will your dad be there?"

"Yes." She bit her lip. "He's home for a few weeks actually."

"He hates me."

"He does not hate you!" He laughed at how aggravated she got. She always did when he said that. "He's just trying to scare you off."

He sighed. "Go to class, and we'll see."

"Is that a yes?"

"Gabby." He ordered playfully. "Class."

She leaned up, kissing him softly. "Bossy."

He smiled as she turned and headed off down the hallway, well aware that she knew he was watching her every move, before heading off to his own class.

**-Risk-**

Glancing at his daughter, David sighed. He'd never seen her so panicked, so stressed, and it pained him, as it would most parents, to see his child this way. She was seventeen. She was meant to be thinking about college, not dealing with something as serious, as adult, as this. He should have protected her, and he'd failed, how could he have not known something was wrong? He'd watched her grow, he'd learnt to support her alone after her mother died when she was just three, helped her to accept Beth, her stepmother, whom had also become insanely protective of her. Paige was his world, and he'd let her down. She wasn't angry, her younger brother was angry enough for the both of them, Robby, at eleven, had figured out that something wasn't right sooner than either of the adults, and he'd tried to tell them. They hadn't listened.

"You'll be safe with them, you know." He commented to the teen, concerned when she took a while to face him. "They won't let anything happen to you."

"I know." Paige responded. "Are you sure they don't mind? I mean, they barely even know me."

"I thought you had that email thing going with Troy?" He quizzed her, trying to keep her mind off of everything.

"Yeah." She sighed. "But that's different, it's not as if we really know eachother. What if he decides he doesn't like me the person, and likes the emails better?"

"Paige the person." David smiled. "is pretty damn great."

"Thanks, dad." She sighed. "I wish mom was here."

"Sometimes, baby." He began. "So do I. I know that having Beth isn't the same."

"She's great, dad. She really is." Paige assured him. "I don't call just anyone 'mom'. It's just, sometimes, I miss her, you know, which is weird because I barely remember her. Sometimes, a girl just needs her mom."

"I know." He responded. "I wish you had her, I wish you knew her like I do, that you could at least remember her, but this world, it's a crazy place, things happen that are beyond our control, we can't change it, we just have to accept it. Your mom, you know that she'd never have wanted to leave you, right?"

"Yeah." Paige confirmed, quiet for a while before continuing. "Dad?" She waited until she gestured. "Have you forgiven him?"

"Forgiven who?" David automatically asked, knowing exactly who she was speaking about.

"The man that killed mom." She answered. "And don't say he didn't mean to do it. If you choose to get drunk, and drive, then hurting someone, even killing someone, is a foreseeable consequence."

"Baby girl." David sighed. "I'll never forgive him. He took my wife away. Your mother. She was twenty five. I can't forgive him for that."

"And Lucy?" Paige quizzed. "What about her? Has she forgiven him?"

"It's difficult for her." David explained. "In my position, as Katie's husband, as your father, I usually only see what he took from us. Sometimes I overlook the fact that she was a sister as well. That Lucy, Ben and Andy lost her too. But Lucy, Lucy raised her. It was Lucy's permission I asked for to marry her. Your mom was eight years younger than her. Lucy was nineteen when a drunk driver killed her parents. She dropped out of college raised Katie and Ben, all so Andy could get his degree. When your mom died, Lucy, it was harder for her, it was the third person that she'd given her all for, that had died that way. I still had you. Andy had lost touch after college. Ben had been a wreck since his teens. Katie, she was Lucy's only confidant."

He knew he'd never told her this much before, in all honesty he hadn't been sure how she'd of handled it before, but after everything, he knew she was ready.

"It's kind of ironic isn't it?" Paige seemed more to state that ask. "How I lost my mom during childhood, but so did she."

"It's best not to dwell on it." He answered, worried by her view. "We can't change it, as much as I wish I could."

**-Risk-**

Chad caught Troy by the arm as he headed for the door, pulling him back roughly, waiting for the class to leave.

"What was that?"

Troy shrugged. "What?"

"You were out of it in there." Chad rushed. "What is going on with you?"

"I'm fine." Troy continued to claim. He turned to the door. "Look, Gabby will be waiting, we'll talk later?"

He sprinted off before his friend could reply, heading around the corner towards the front of the school.

"You're late." He heard her before he saw her, and turned to see the teasing grin on her face. "Now you have to make it up to me."

"By like, 5 seconds." He commented, wrapping an arm around her shoulder's and leading her towards his truck.

"Longest 5 seconds of my life." She giggled. "I was really worried."

He reached out and opened the passenger side door of his truck after unlocking it, waiting until she was in before closing the door behind her and walking round, jumping in next to her.

"You're coming in, right?" She questioned, biting her lip.

"You only want me to come in because you want to laugh at me." He claimed, smiling as she laughed as a result.

"I do not!" she was still giggling. "Ana misses you."

"That's not fair." He pretended to be shocked, backing out of the parking spot. "You know I can't say no to her." He caught the grin out of the corner of his eye. "I saw that."

"Please." She continued. "For me?"

He made the mistake of briefly turning to her, catching that all too familiar pout.

He sighed. "I'll think about it. Like I said."

He watched as she settled back in the seat, staring out of the window and took the chance to lean back slightly, trying to stifle the stressed groan.

"Okay." He heard his girlfriend announce, a sign that she'd heard him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He tried, hoping that she'd accept that and back off.

"Don't give me that." She retorted. "You've been weird ever since you got that phone call. What is up with you?"

"Nothing, it was just my, uh, dad. He wants me to fit in some extra practice after dinner." He watched as the hurt flashed in her eyes. Of course she'd be able to tell he was lying. She knew him better than he knew himself. "I'm sorry, baby." He was genuine, he hated lying to her, but he didn't know the full situation yet. "I just don't want you worried about it. I'll tell you, okay? Just not now."

"Why not?" She asked. "It's stressing you out, maybe you need to talk about it."

"And I will." He assured her. "Just, not right now, okay?" He paused. "Trust me."

He watched as her eyes narrowed. "Okay."

She turned away from him, an obvious indication that she wasn't happy. He reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'll come in, okay?"

She turned back to him, nodding. "I'll try and make my dad back off."

**-Risk-**

Ana Montez ran to the door, flinging it open in front of her and speeding down the driveway, pulling open the door of the truck.

"Whoa, Ana banana, calm down." Troy laughed at the child's excitement. "Walk, okay?"

"Whatever."

He looked over at Gabriella. "Whatever? Since when did Ana say whatever?"

"Since she decided she's cool." Gabriella smiled. "One of the cool kids, aren't you, Ana?"

The seven-year-old nodded. "You're not."

Troy gasped playfully. "I did not come here to be insulted, banana." He opened the car door, stepping out and walking around to her.

"Whatever."

He held a hand out for his girlfriend, smiling as she took it and exited the truck.

Gabriella was smiling at her younger sister. "Where's daddy?"

"Working." Ana answered. "He said I'm noisy."

"Mommy?"

"Shopping." Ana shrugged. "What's for dinner?"

"Food."

"What kind of food?"

"Food you can eat." Troy joined in, laughing slightly as the girl's face screwed up when she turned to him.

"You're silly." She evaluated. "You can't be cool."

"I'm very cool." Troy told her. "Carlos thinks so, and Gabby definitely does."

"Carlos said..." Ana started giggling. "that." She paused. "You're a big fat dork."

"Lies!" Troy exclaimed. "Your brother thinks I'm very cool. Everyone loves me."

"Daddy doesn't." Ana smiled innocently. "Daddy said boys are nasty and smelly and me and Gabby should stay away."

She grabbed her older sister's hand and dragged her towards the house, leaving him to lock up his truck and follow them.

"DADDY!" He heard Ana calling as he stepped through the front door, closing it softly behind him. "DADDY, GABBY AND TROY ARE HERE!"

He stiffened slightly when he heard a door open, stepped slightly behind his girlfriend just in time for her father to appear. He was that kind of father. The kind that wouldn't let them be alone together under his roof. If he couldn't be in the room with them, he'd make sure that either Carlos or Ana were. Gabriella would never do anything in front of her siblings, neither of them would let her hear the end of it.

"Daddy." he heard Gabriella warn, but kept his eyes on the man in front of him. "Be nice."

Antonio's eyes flickered from his daughter to her boyfriend, nodding to him in a way of greeting. "Troy."

Troy politely repeated the gesture. "Sir."

He shifted uncomfortably as the man continued to watch him, his eyes almost burning holes into him.

"Daddddddy" Troy almost sighed with relief when Ana spoke, taking her father's attention off of him. "I want to watch a movie."

"That's a great idea, princess." Antonio's voice was strong. "Let's all watch a movie together."

Gabriella didn't miss the pointed look her father shot her, and automatically turned to her boyfriend. "Come on."

**-Risk-**

Troy shuffled in the seat, trying to focus on the cartoon characters on the screen. Ana had picked the movie, neither he nor Gabriella has risked arguing.

He glanced up, checking the faces of everyone else in the room before taking his cell out of his pocket, quickly unlocking it to see if he had any messages.

None.

He placed the item back in his pocket and turned back to the tv, noticing the eyes of his girlfriend on him as he did.

He glanced over at her father, and, assured that he wasn't paying attention to them for once, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his chest, rubbing her arm with his thumb through her shirt until she relaxed, then kissing her softly on the forehead, quickly taking the time to mutter. "In time."

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**Review?**


	3. The Worry

**Okay, I didn't get this out as quick as I wanted, life got in the way again. I'm about to wrap IP though, planning on writing the final chapter this week, as well as finishing the epilogue, then I'll hopefully only have this, Aftermath and MIR to worry about.**

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Paige sat in the car, staring up at the house as she listened to the sound of her father pulling her bags out of the trunk. She couldn't bring herself to get out and help. Everything was familiar. The house. The neighborhood. They were vague memories, but memories all the same. She hadn't been here in fourteen years, not since her mother had died. They'd moved and never looked back. The car door opened, and she looked up into the concerned eyes of her father.

"Are you sure about this?"

She nodded. "I can't stay at home. There isn't another option."

"You could go to Beth's sister's. You know her, kiddo."

Paige sighed. "But she's not my family, dad, she's Robby's family." She stepped out of the car. "Besides, Aiden knows where she lives." She shifted her gaze to the house. "I guess this is it."

"I'm sorry you don't remember it."

"It's okay." She smiled slightly. "Aunt Lucy visited enough. I never had a reason to come back here before now. I guess it'll just be hard for a while."

"Come on." David tried smiling in encouragement. "Let's get you inside." He paused. "You can always change your mind."

"Daddy." Paige complained. "I'll be fine. Aiden doesn't even know they exist, I'm safer here." She frowned. "How long can you stay?"

"Only an hour or so if I'm going to get back tonight." He confessed, hugging her lightly. "I'll miss you though."

"I'll miss you too." She sighed. "I wish you could stay a bit longer."

"I would if I could." He reminded her.

"I know." She agreed. "Can't let you miss Robby's game, anyway. He was already upset that I couldn't go. Tell him I'm sorry?"

"He knows." David tried. "He won't be mad forever. He'll understand eventually. He knows what was happening, he just doesn't get why you're leaving instead of Aiden."

Paige looked back at the house. "Do you think they'll remember me? It's been years."

"Of course they will." He almost chuckled at her insecurity. "You can still change your mind you know, we can figure something out."

"Dad."

"Worth a try." He chuckled, grabbing a few of his daughter's bags and waiting for her to pick up the others. "Let's go say Hi to your Aunt Lucy."

**-Risk-**

Troy frowned as he stepped into his house, hating the feeling of guilt that had seeped over him. He'd lied to her, and she knew it was a lie. He could still see the hurt that had flashed in her eyes. The look that had made him automatically apologise. He'd told her it was no big deal. Just something he didn't want her worrying about. She'd accepted that, but he'd never forget the look that had been in her eyes.

He was cut off from his thoughts as he felt arms around his neck, a face pressed into his chest, and he couldn't help but wish it was his girlfriend as opposed to the petite blonde.

"I'm sorry." She was apologising hysterically. "I didn't know what else to do. I know it's not your problem. But every time I tried to get away from him, he keeps finding me, Troy. I'm scared."

"Paige." He sighed. "Of course it's my problem." He pushed her back from him, taking in her somewhat panicked face. "How long has this been going on?"

"I didn't think it was a big deal." She admitted. "He was wonderful at first, but then he started hitting me, and keeping me away from my friends. He found your number on my cell once and freaked. Mom and Dad, well, they heard me on the phone to Kimmy a few days ago. I'd faked sick so I didn't have to go into school. We decided it would be better if I came to stay with you guys for a while, where he can't find me, he showed up when I was leaving. I thought he was following us and I panicked. Dad told him that grandma was sick and I was going to visit her."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He questioned, slightly hurt. "I could have helped."

"You'd have got mad and gone after him." Paige pointed out. "And you have a girlfriend, a life, I didn't want to get in the way."

"Paige." He stopped her. "You wouldn't have been in the way. Especially what with how close we were when we were kids. Gabriella doesn't stop me from caring about you."

She sighed. "I know."

He nodded. "Where's my mom?"

"Cooking." She smiled lightly. "Your dad said it's what she does when you have guests."

He laughed slightly. "Yeah, last time Gabby stayed over we had like, a 5 course meal."

"She must have cool parents." Paige commented. "Letting her stay over."

"Nah, her dad hates me." He answered. "Her mom lets her stay when he's on business trips, as long as she's promised separate rooms and supervision."

Paige looked down. "Do you think your mom would mind, if..." she paused, looking up at him. "If I asked her about my mom?"

"Nah." He reassured her. "She'll like having someone to talk about her with. I don't really remember her, and, well, I was told she never liked my dad because she preferred one of mom's old boyfriends."

"Do you ever hear from Ben or Andy?"

"Ben's probably dead in a ditch somewhere." Troy rolled his eyes at the mention of the man. "Andy sends Christmas and birthday cards, pretty sure that's his wife though. They had a kid a few months back, said they'll bring it to see us, I don't see it happening."

"I guess I find that so weird because I get on so well with Robby."

Troy nodded, feeling is cell buzz in his pocket, but deciding to ignore it. "Probably."

"So.." Paige began. "What do we do while we're waiting for dinner? Usually I wouldn't ask but seeing as this isn't technically my house..."

Troy's chuckle interrupted her. "We watch TV."

**-Risk-**

Gabriella glanced worriedly at the clock. Two hours. It had been two hours since she'd called him and he still hadn't called her back. He'd promised he'd call her to tell her he got home okay. He always did, and he'd never broken that promise, until today.

She'd tried to call him every half an hour since the first call. He just wasn't answering. Usually if he really couldn't pick up, he'd text her, just a simple x signifying a kiss, but this time, nothing.

She dialled the number again, almost praying for him to pick up.

"_Hey, this is Troy, can't pick up right now, leave a message."_

She sighed. "Troy, where are you? If this is meant to be some kind of joke, it's not funny. I'm getting worried now. Just call me back."

She groaned, falling down on to her bed, letting the phone fall out of her hand beside her. Where was he?

She looked up as her bedroom door opened, throwing a faint smile in her sister's direction as she walked in, like always, without invitation.

"Mommy says it's dinner time." Ana told her. "You have to come."

Gabriella rolled over onto her side. "I'm not hungry, Ana, can you tell mommy?"

Ana nodded, eyeing her older sister curiously before skipping out of the room, stopping at the door to throw the "Whatever." she had forgotten over her shoulder.

She flipped over, not bothering to close the door after her sister, picking up her cell and hitting a button, making it light up. He hadn't answered. She'd known, she would have heard it if he had, but she checked all the same.

She groaned again, shifting her position again so she could stare at the ceiling. "What's going on with you?"

The door creaked some minutes later, and she turned slowly to face her mother, whom was watching her with a look of concern.

Ellen Montez stepped forward into the room, closing the door behind her and moving over to the bed, sitting by her daughter's feet.

"What's wrong?" She questioned, lightly touching the teenager's ankle, something that had always seemed to calm her when she was a baby.

"Nothing." Gabriella refused. "Why does something have to be wrong?"

"You're skipping dinner." Ellen pointed out. "You're not sick, if you were you'd have made sure the whole house knew about it, that leaves upset."

"I'm fine, mom." Gabriella snapped, rolling onto her side to turn away from her,

Ellen stood up, moving around the bed and sitting on the other side. "You want to talk about it?"

Gabriella shook her head, shifting onto her back once again.

"It's either me or your father." Ellen decided. "Your choice."

"Mom!" Gabriella complained. "Seriously, I'm fine. Leave me alone."

"You get your stubborness from me." Ellen smiled softly. "Is it Troy?"

Gabriella sighed, giving in. "He hasn't called yet."

"Okay."

"He always calls mom." She pointed out. "As soon as he gets home he calls so I know that he got there okay, today he didn't."

"I don't see why this is such a big deal, sweetie?"

"He ALWAYS calls mom." She repeated. "He didn't, so I called him and he didn't answer."

"Maybe he just forgot." Ellen excused. "You know what men are like, and wouldn't he of had his phone set to silent because of school?"

Gabriella frowned. "He was acting weird at school too though."

"Ah." Ellen sounded. "Now we're getting somewhere. Did you talk to him about it?"

"I tried to." Gabriella admitted. "He just closed off. He said I need to trust him."

"Maybe you do need to just trust him." Ellen mused. "If something's going on that he's not ready to tell you."

"He lied, mom." Gabriella flinched against the truth. "He never lies to me, but today he did, and he knows that I know, ever since lunch he's been acting weird, and he kept checking his cell when he was here earlier." She hesitated. "Do you think I did something?"

"I'm sure if you did he'll talk to you about it." Ellen assured her. "The way he looks at you." She smiled. "It's the way your father looks at me. That's why your daddy acts the way he does. He doesn't like the idea of losing you."

Gabriella sighed. "How do I get through to him mom?"

"Sweetie." Ellen frowned. "If it's getting to you this much, you need to talk to him, tell him how you feel."

The teen nodded. "I guess."

Ellen stood up. "Come on then, dinner."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, sitting up. "I'll be down in a minute, just going to try one more time."

She waited for her mother to leave the room before dialling the number from heart.

"_Hey, this is Troy, can't pick up right now, leave a message."_

"Please, just call me, let me know you're okay."

**-Risk-**

Troy laughed as his dad finished yet another story of his past, picking up his glass and taking a sip of water to calm himself.

"You cannot complain about any of the things I do again." He decided. "It'd just be hypocritical."

"Nice try." His mother commented. "You're not doing any of that stuff." She turned to Paige. "I guess I have someone on my side now I have you here."

Paige nodded. "That's completely crazy." She turned to Jack. "How did you even think to do that?"

"Peter's idea." He elaborated. "He just didn't count on smashing into the fence at the bottom."

"Good thing I have Gabriella to keep him in line." Lucille smiled, turning to her son. "I never thought I'd like a girl having control over you." She frowned at the look of alarm on his face, he'd been laughing with them not even a minute ago. "Troy?"

"I was meant to call her." He groaned in frustration. He'd forgotten. "When I got back I was meant to call her."

"Troy." His dad spoke up. "It's one call, and she's a reasonable girl, she's not going to be mad at you for missing one call."

He stood up. "I have to call her."

Lucille frowned at him. "After dinner, Troy."

He reluctantly sat down again, beginning to rush at eating the food in front of him.

He turned when he felt eyes on him, meeting Paige's gaze.

"I'm good." He told her after swallowing. "Just don't want her worried."

Paige nodded, going back to her own food, almost startled when he jumped up again little more than minutes later.

He grabbed his cell from the coffee table as soon as he reached the room, frowning at what the screen told him, 3 new voicemails, all from his girlfriend.

He frowned, playing them one by one.

"_Troy, where are you? If this is meant to be some kind of joke, it's not funny. I'm getting worried now. Just call me back_."

"_Please, just call me, let me know you're okay._"

"_What's happened to you? Why aren't you picking up? Did I do something? Call me, okay, I'm sorry I was pushy earlier._"

His breath caught on the last one, she was so worried that she was blaming herself, he'd screwed up.

Dialling the number quickly, he brought the phone to his ear, almost desperate for a response.

It took longer than usual, and the answer didn't come from the person he needed to speak to. "_Helloooooo_"

"Hey." He tried to add some cheer to his voice. "Ana banana, it's Troy, can you give Gabriella the phone."

"_Nooooo_." Ana refused. "_Phone was loud and I heard it and Gabriella not._"

"Why can't you give Gabriella the phone?"

"_She's asleep._" Ana stated as if it was obvious. "_Mommy said she was upset and I had to leave her alone. Why?_"

"I don't know." He lied. "Are you sure she's asleep."

"_Yup_." Ana answered. "_But she doesn't snore, so I can't let you hear her._"

He chuckled slightly. "Why do you have her phone?"

"_It was louudddd._" Ana insisted. "_Want me to poke her?_"

"No." He replied quickly, knowing that Ana had a tendancy to ask and go ahead without an answer. "Don't wake her up, tell her I'll see her tomorrow?"

"_Why?_"

"I'm taking her to school Ana banana."

"_Why?_"

"Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"_Nooo._"

"Ana, where are you?"

"_Gabby's room because thats where the phone was ringing._" Ana confirmed. "_I think she woke up._" There was a hesitation, in which he heard only muffled voices, before he heard another voice.

"_Hi_."

"I'm so sorry." He apologised as soon as he heard her voice. "I'm so, so sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"_Troy_." He could hear the sadness still evident in her voice. "_It was only a call, I'm being a baby_."

"I'll make it up to you." He insisted. "I know I've been off today, that's not because of you, okay, it's not you."

"_Okay_."

He sighed, one word answers were never a good sign. "I'm sorry."

"_I know._" She paused. "_I'm gonna go. I'm kinda tired and I know that you're okay now._"

He frowned. "Okay. I'm sorry."

"_Bye_." He heard her long sigh before she added. "_I love you_."

"I love you too." He replied, smiling softly at the mere fact that she'd still said it. "Bye."

He frowned at the sound of the dial tone. He knew her too well. There was no way she was convinced that she didn't do anything wrong.

He'd just have to show her.

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**Review?**


	4. The Revelation

**For those of you that are confused, yes, I have changed the name of this story. Risk was only ever a working title, I wanted to wait until I got further with it to settle on a name.**

**I started this chapter a while ago, then my computer decided to delete it. Literally, it just disappeared. One day it was there, when I went back to it, it was gone. I searched my whole computer, thentried using a program that restores accidently deleted documents and it couldn't find it. So I started again, probably for the best anyways, I was planning on majorly editing it anyway.**

**This chapter gives away why Troy's reluctant to tell Gabriella about anything. I wasn't going to reveal that so soon, but this story isn't going to be as long as my others and it fits here, plus, I'm hoping if you know why he won't tell her you won't be as mad at him. LOL.**

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Gabriella glanced across the table at her boyfriend, somewhat put out by his behaviour. Usually, if there wasn't a space next to her when he entered the cafeteria, he'd make someone move. He hadn't even looked at her since he'd got there. Sure, it had only been a few minutes, and he hadn't acknowledged anyone else either, but he never usually failed to greet her.

The ride to school that morning hadn't been much better. He'd been distant. A simple "Hi" and a kiss on the cheek. No hug, no suggestive comments, no attempt at persuading her to ditch school. It was like he'd had some kind of personality overhaul that only seemed to affect the way he treated her. It had been two and a half weeks, and she'd still been offered no explanation for the behaviour, he still wouldn't talk to her. Her patience was wearing thin.

She sighed, pushing her food away from her and resting her cheek on her elbow, no longer feeling like eating, listening to the conversation between her friends.

"... and I'm thinking about auditioning." Sharpay was gushing about, Gabriella assumed, a local theatre that was holding auditions for it's next play.

"Will you have time?" Kelsi questioned. "What with school, and college applications. The musical should be coming up soon too."

"I've been thinking about it. Just trying to figure out which one would be better for me to do. It might look good if I branch out, but I've never missed a musical."

"You still have..."

Gabriella zoned out, usually she'd offer advice, but at that moment she didn't care. They all knew which route their friend would go down anyway. She glanced over at Troy again, looking back down when she only met the top of his head. She knew she should talk to him. Her mother hadn't been the only one encouraging her to do so, but she still hadn't brought the subject up. Three weeks ago it would have been easy, but now she just didn't know how he would react. How did she explain how confused she was? He wasn't avoiding her, but he was almost completely closed off to her. How did she tell him how much that hurt?

"Gab?" She was distracted from her thoughts by the voice of one of her friends, the guy that was like a brother to her. "You okay?"

She nodded. "Fine."

Chad nodded, his expression giving away that he didn't believe her. "Give him some time, okay? You know what he's like, whatever it is, he's probably trying to protect you or something equally cheesy."

"You've noticed?" She queried, turning to face him. "It's not just me?"

"He's been blowing off practice." He admitted. "Coach doesn't seem all that bothered by it. Usually he'd screw or something."

"I just wish he'd talk to me." She frowned. "It feels like he doesn't want me around anymore."

"Gab." Chad sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, bringing her into a hug. "Have you told him?"

She shook her head, glancing up at her boyfriend again, surprised when she met his eyes instead of his crown. She bit her lip upon seeing the look on his face. The possessive glare that had shifted to his best friend. She shrugged Chad's arm off of her. "I'm gonna go and get some air."

He nodded, watching as she stood up and walked away before looking over at his friend, having already noticed the glare. "What the hell is up with you? She's upset. I am allowed to hug her, you know. Just because you're being an ass doesn't mean I have to be."

He was being harsh, he knew that, but someone had to get through to the guy.

"Chad." Taylor interrupted, attempting to stop the war of words before it began. "Maybe yo..."

"She's my girlfriend." Troy put in, trying to maintain the facade of anger that had been replaced with concern as soon as he'd heard that she was upset. "If she's upset, you tell me."

"You want to fucking comfort her." Chad snapped. "Then go after her."

Troy stood up, shooting another glare at his friend before following his girlfriend.

"What the hell was that?" Zeke directed at him as soon as Troy had left the cafeteria.

"He's being an ass." Chad announced. "Nobody makes my sister cry." He glanced around at them all. "Have you not noticed how much he's changed?"

"Of course we've noticed." Taylor admitted. "But it's obvious that he's going through something right now. Even his dad's been a little on edge, and if Gab won't talk to him about it, we can't expect him to read her mind."

"She's my sister and he's treating her like crap." Chad defended. "I'm looking out for HER. Whatever issue he has is only his problem until it starts hurting her."

**-FP-**

She refused to let herself cry. She'd promised herself that she'd never cry over a guy, and she didn't intend to break that promise. Pulling out her book as she lowered herself onto the bench outside the main doors of the school, she held in the tears, curling her legs up underneath her body before she opened it. She was unable to concentrate on the pages, but at least she looked like she was doing something.

She jumped when she felt someone sit down next to her, frowned when the book was taken out of her hands.

"Baby?"

"Yes?"

Troy sighed. "You want to talk about it?"

Gabriella looked up at him. "I want you to talk about it."

He let out a frustrated groan. "It's better if you don't know."

"How is it?" She exclaimed. "I don't know what's happened but whatever it is has clearly had some huge effect on you. How can you expect me to understand what's going on if you won't talk to me? How can you expect Chad to understand why the hell you were looking at him the way you were? You've never had a problem with him hugging me before. What's happened?"

"All I need you to understand is that I don't want you dealing with this." He sighed, reaching out and pulling her over to him. "I just don't want you getting hurt?" He kissed her forehead lightly after detecting the slight worry that appeared in her eyes. "I'm probably being too protective, but you don't need this right now. Heck, I don't need it right now, I don't have a choice, you do."

She turned away from him. "You say I have a choice, I say I want to know and you still won't tell me." She reached up to brush away a stray tear. "Troy, you're scaring me. Please."

"Don't cry." She barely heard his strangled whisper, but felt the tightness of his arms as he embraced her. "Please don't cry." He started to rub her back. "I'm sorry. I can't tell you. I'll figure it out, okay? I'll try not to let it affect us."

She stayed silent for a while, accepting his comfort before deciding to speak. "I thought you trusted me."

"This isn't about trust." He didn't even hesitate. "I do trust you. I do. I just love you too much to let you deal with this." He sighed. "If I tell you what I'm okay with telling you, do you promise not to ask questions?" He watched as she nodded. "Okay. My cousin's staying with me for a while, Paige, I've told you about her, remember?"

"The one who's mom died?" She asked for clarification. "Your aunt?"

He nodded. "She's staying for a while because some stuff is happening at home that she's better off away from."

"What stu..."

"That's the part you can't know." He admitted.. "I don't know where things stand right now, and I don't even want you thinking about it." He smiled slightly. "How about I make it up to you? Dinner tonight?"

He watched as she closed her eyes, nodding in acceptance. It was enough for her. For now.

**-FP-**

Chad looked up as his friend sat across from him in the locker room, deciding not to speak until the other teenager did.

"I guess I should explain earlier."

"I guess you should."

Troy sighed. "Paige is in town."

"Yeah?" Chad asked. "What's that got to do with you acting like a dick?"

"If I tell you this, you can't tell Gab."

"Dude, I'm not a twelve year old girl."

"I'm serious." Troy stated. "She can't know."

"You're cheating on her?"

"No!" Troy denied. "What kind of a question is that? I've already said it's about Paige."

"Fine." Chad agreed. "What's happened with Paige that's so bad you don't want your girlfriend knowing about it?"

"Paige's dad." Troy began. "He found out that her boyfriend had been hitting her." He paused, surveying the reaction. "That it had been going on for months."

"Is Paige okay?"

"She's okay now." Troy confirmed. "Really shaken up though. The bastard keeps texting her asking her when she's coming home. She ended it, but he won't leave her alone, won't take no for an answer. That date with Gabs that I cancelled last Friday, he'd texted saying he was going to kill her, I couldn't just leave."

"Understandable." Chad nodded. "What was with that look though? At lunch when I hugged her."

"I guess with what's happened to Paige, I realised that she's breakable." Troy admitted. "Paige is a lot stronger than Gabs, if someone could do that to her, what could they do to Gabriella?"

"You thought I was going to hurt her?"

"No." Troy shook his head. "I guess a part of me doesn't want anyone touching her, seeing you with her then, it made me realise that I can't be with her all the time. What if someone does try something?"

"She's always got someone with her." Chad pointed out. "Us, the gang, and even if she is alone, there's cameras in the hallways at school, and seriously, would you want to go up against her dad and Carlos?"

Troy smiled lightly. "No."

"Troy?" Chad paused. "Why couldn't you explain all this to Gabs? Why's it such a big secret? She'd understand that Paige needs you right now. That you're going to be weirdly protective or whatever."

"Gabriella's mom had a sister." Troy started. "Did you know that?" Chad shook his head. "She cried when she told me about this, you know."

"Told you what?"

"Gabby and Carlos used to spend every day after school with their aunt." Troy frowned. "It was back when their mom was still working." He paused. "Anyway, Gabs said they were really close, her and her aunt, so close, in fact, that Gabriella agreed to keep something from her mom, something important." He flinched, hating that he had to share this part of his girlfriend's past. "She didn't tell her mom that her aunt was a punching bag for her husband. She was nine. All she knew was that her aunt had told her not to say anything. I tried telling her it's not her fault but..."

"Her aunt ended up dead." Chad filled in the blank. "He killed her?"

Troy nodded. "If I tell her about Paige, it'll bring it all back." He sighed. "She wasn't just crying when she told me that, she was almost hysterical. Got worse when Ana came in. Ana, she was named after their aunt."

They fell silent.

"She think's it's her fault?"

Troy nodded. "So does Luca. Her cousin, you've met him." He hesitated. "Don't tell her I told you about her aunt. I'm not sure she ever wanted you to know."

Chad nodded. "You can't protect her from everything you know."

"I can try."

**-FP-**

"You look happy." Ellen commented as her elder daughter skipped through the kitchen. "Good day?"

"I got somewhere." Gabriella smiled. "He's starting to open up."

"See." Ellen laughed at her daughter's behaviour. "I told you it wasn't that bad."

"I guess I overreacted a little." Gabriella agreed. "We're going out tonight, is that okay?"

"Back by ten?"

"Mom." Gabriella giggled. "Troy's way too scared of dad to bring me back any later."

"That's true." Ellen agreed. "You have fun tonight, okay?"

Gabriella nodded. "I should go and get ready. He said he'd be here at six."

She darted off towards her room, glancing at the clock as she made it there.

Five fifteen.

Just enough time to get ready if she didn't redo her makeup.

After just over half an hour later, she laid back on her bed, waiting for the rest of the time to pass, frowning when she received a text from him when she was expecting him to be at the door.

_Sorry babe, something's come up. Can't make it tonight? Tomorrow? Love you, T xxx_

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**Review?**


	5. The Inner Struggle

**This seems to be the only HSM story (other than Drunk) I can motivate myself to write, sucks because IP is almost done but I can't be bothered to write the last chapter, despite knowing exactly where I'm going with it (I have started it now though), and having a pretty much complete epilogue.**

**Just a note: You reviewers are kinda great. I love that a few of you are actually thinking about this. The whole, by protecting her in one way he's hurting her in another. The idea actually came from one of my friends asking me how I'd deal with that situation myself (he's being an ass but at the same time he's not), of course, I'm me, so my head automatically makes it a story which I then try and fight off (and never can).**

**Soooo... this is a little fluffy... don't expect too much of it.**

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Gabriella couldn't help but scowl slightly at the sight of her boyfriend leaning against his truck the next morning. She made her way slowly to him, stopping as she reached him, refusing to look him in the eye.

"I'm sorry." She heard the apology before she felt his fingers beneath her chin, forcing her to look at him. "I'm sorry. Something happened and Paige panicked. Mom wasn't home, and well, you know what dad's like."

She bit her lip, trying to stay mad at him. It was sweet that he cared so much about his cousin, she just wished it wasn't affecting him as much as it was. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by his lips on her own. She responded, slightly shocked, smiling into the kiss as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer.

"Morning." He smiled as he pulled away before things became too heated.

She frowned. "I'm still mad at you."

"After school, okay?" He negotiated. "I won't even go home first. It'll just be you and me, I promise."

"I don't know how many more broken promises I can take, Troy." She admitted. "Not if I don't know why you're breaking them."

"I'm sorry." He repeated. "After school, a sure thing, okay?"

"It better be." She mumbled, stepping round him. "We have to go."

**-FP-**

"Are things back to normal?" Sharpay questioned, sitting down next to Kelsi.

The smaller girl shrugged. "They've been like that since they got here." She glanced towards her friends. "Chad said that he got a text earlier, and he hasn't let her out of his sight since."

Sharpay followed the smaller girl's gaze as she heard Gabriella's distinctive laugh echoing around the table, smiling weakly at the sight of her friend settled into her boyfriends arms for the first time in weeks. They were both oblivious to the others, whispering to eachother as if no one else was there.

"Couldn't have been that bad." Sharpay decided. "He's not acting off, she'd notice if he was."

Kelsi nodded, averting her gaze as she noticed Chad and Taylor approaching. "Guess we might find out."

Chad automatically threw a chip at his friend as soon as he sat down, shaking his head in amusement as both Troy and Gabriella turned to him, far from impressed by the interruption.

He grinned. "It's lunch, stop trying to make us sick."

Troy rolled his eyes, resting his chin lightly on top of his girlfriend's head. "No one's making you stay here."

"The food is." Chad retorted. "Or are you too busy eating your girlfriend to think about food?"

Sharpay laughed as Gabriella automatically turned, burying her face into Troy's shoulder out of embarrassment. "Come on, Gabs, you know it's true." She watched as Troy's arm tightened around the brunette, bit her lip as he checked his cell and frowned at whatever he saw. "What's up, Troy?"

Gabriella's head immediately shot up, only just missing the glare that her boyfriend sent in the blonde's direction. "Troy?"

"I'm fine." He sent her a reassuring smile. "Great, actually." He paused, pressing his lips to her forehead. "What do you want to do later?"

"I don't care." She sighed. "As long as you're actually there."

"You still don't believe me?"

"It's hard to believe you."

He frowned, running his hand down her arm. "I'll be waiting after school, usual spot. Nothing is going to get in the way, okay?"

She nodded. "Okay."

**-FP-**

Gabriella laughed as her boyfriend span her round in his arms, his grip on her tight to stop her falling, not that he'd ever dropped her before.

"Put me down." She grinned, unable to stop her giggles. "We need to finish the game."

"I'm so proud of you." He commented, complying to her request and placing her carefully back on the ground. "You're perfect."

"I'm beating you." She pointed out, smiling softly at his words. "You're proud because I'm beating you?"

"When did you get so good at this?"

"It's only bowling." She commented. "And I had to do something while you were being all weird. Carlos bowls a lot, he figured I could do with the distraction and made me come."

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever." She brushed off, pulling back from his grasp. "It's your turn."

He kissed her lightly before stepping forward and picking up one of the heavy balls in order to take his turn. "I can still pull this back you know."

She laughed. "I doubt it."

He grinned at the sound, smiling in her direction. "I love you."

"You're trying to distract me." She accused. "Which makes absolutely no sense, because it's YOUR turn."

He sighed, amused by her claims, before stepping forwards. "Watch this."

He aimed, before releasing the ball at what he'd planned to be the perfect moment. He watched as it swifly moved down the lane, listened as the sound of her laughing increased.

"What exactly am I supposed to be watching?" She mocked playfully. "That gutterball?"

"That impressed you." He claimed. "Admit it."

"You're insane." She giggled, stepping towards him as he picked up another ball. "So much for getting back in the game."

"If I didn't know better." He teased. "I'd say you were making fun of me."

"It's a good thing you know better then, isn't it?" She played along. "I wouldn't want you to think I was picking on you."

He took the opportunity as it came, and reached out for her, grasping her arms and pulling her towards him before she could protest, his lips meeting hers almost immediately. He was still grinning when he pulled away, listening as her breathing began to return to normal. "How about we wrap this up and get some food."

**-FP-**

Gabriella frowned as she watched Troy pull away from the house, slightly annoyed that he hadn't opted to stay for a while. Sure he'd been a little distracted while they were out, checking his phone every now and again, but it hadn't been major, and he'd told her he'd stop if it was bothering her. She'd thought that he'd stay a little longer. She hadn't expected him to come in in demand to have a conversation with her father, settling with her brother when it was revealed that her father was not home. A conversation he hadn't wanted her to hear.

"CARLOS!" She called as soon as her boyfriend's truck was out of sight. "CARLOS!"

She closed the door, heading into the house and towards her brothers room. Bursting through the door she found her brother sprawled out on his bed, his eyes fixed on the tv screen in front of him, watching the kind of violent horror flick she preferred to avoid.

"Knock much?" Her younger brother questioned, barely even acknowledging her.

She ignored her brother's question, instead supplying one of her own."What did Troy want to talk to you about?"

Carlos smirked. "He told me you'd ask that."

"And?"

"He told me to tell you to stop being nosy." Carlos' gaze still remained focused on the tv. "He told me if a rephrased that and made it sound nasty, he'd hunt me down." The teenager was still smirking. "I told him that wouldn't be a great idea considering dad already hates him."

Gabriella frowned. "Carlos. Tell me."

"Nah." He refused. "Troy's right, you're better off not knowing." He turned to her, taking in her expression before sitting up, giving her his full attention. "He didn't want to tell me, he just figured he didn't have a choice. He's trying to protect you Gabs. Let him."

"You're younger than me." She argued. "Why will he tell you and not me?"

"I get the feeling," Carlos started. "It's because he'd much rather that you were happy or whatever than me."

"It's bad then?" She queried.

"You think he'd be trying to protect you from it if it wasn't?" Carlos questioned. "Dad may not like the guy, Gabs, but even he'd agree with him on this."

Gabriella sighed, resigned to the fact that she wasn't going to get any answers from her brother. "I'm worried." It was the first time she'd admitted it aloud to anyone other than her mother. "That he doesn't want me anymore." She hesitated. "I don't know if I'd be able to handle that. Sometimes, like earlier tonight, I feel stupid for ever thinking it, but then I remember that he's keeping something from me and, he never used to. I hate it."

"Well," Carlos frowned, making a mental note to tell Troy about that when he next got a chance. "So does he."

**-FP-**

Troy groaned in frustration before he stepped out of his truck, the stress of the day catching up with him. It wasn't that he resented his cousin being there, it was that he hated the situation that her presence put him in. Reminding his girlfriend of her own past was not an option for him, he'd promised himself when she'd first told him about it that he'd never even let her think about something like that again, but it was becoming harder to keep it from her. She was cooperating for now, but what happened if Paige panicked again and he had to miss another date? He was out of his depth, and he knew it.

He slowly made his way towards the door, remembering the text he had received that morning, the text that had made him hold onto his girlfriend so tightly all day.

He turned the key in the lock and stepped inside, quietly closing the door behind him. Approaching the door to the living room, smiling briefly at his family as he entered the room before focusing directly on Paige. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Kelly texted me earlier, asking me how long I was going to be in Albuqurque."

"Okay?" He didn't get it. He really didn't get it.

"I didn't tell her where I was." Paige elaborated. "I asked her why she thought I was here, and she said that Aiden told her."

He lashed out, punching the wall beside the door. "Fuck."

"Troy." His mother tried. "You have to calm down. He knows she's in Albuquerque, he doesn't know WHERE in Albuqurque."

Paige frowned. "She's right. That's something, isn't it? He probably won't be able to track me down here with just that."

"He knows too much." Troy decided. "Knowing that she's in Albuquerque is too much." He paused, taking a breathe to try and calm himself. "Gabriella is here. What if he comes here and gets to her?"

"Why would he go after Gabriella?" He listened as his father queried, and realised as soon as the question was asked that not even he could answer it. Aiden didn't even know Gabriella. He didn't know anyone here.

"Jack." Lucille sighed, placing a hand on her husband's shoulder. She glanced over at her son, understanding in her eyes. She knew what he meant, even if he didn't. "It's natural for him to worry about how all this will affect Gabby." She turned back to her son. "How's she dealing with all of this anyway?"

Troy cleared his throat. "I haven't told her."

He almost flinched at the expression that crossed his mother's face at the admission. "Why haven't you told her?"

"I don't want her dealing with it." Troy told them. "She knows that Paige is here. I don't want her to know why. Not until she has to. She doesn't right now."

Paige sighed, leaning back in the chair she was currently in. "That's why you wouldn't let me meet her." She reasoned. "You don't want me to tell her."

"I don't want anyone making your problems her problems." He defended. "If I decide that Gabriella needs to know, I'll tell her." He hesitated. "She doesn't need to know yet. I told Carlos, he told me he'd keep an eye on her when I'm not there. Why is it that he seems to be the only one that agrees with me?"

That question he could answer himself, it was answer he knew his parents couldn't give. Carlos had seen what his sister went through after the death of their aunt. He saw how it still affected her today. Troy had known it would be all too easy to convince the younger teen to keep it from his sister.

"You should tell her." Paige decided. "I'd want to know if it was me in her position."

"It's not." Troy pointed out. " You're not exactly in my position now either, are you? Hell, I wouldn't even be in this position if it wasn't for your bad taste in guys."

"TROY." Lucille scolded. "You need to cool down. You do not speak to her like that."

Troy turned on his heel, heading for the door. "Tell me if HE gets in touch again."

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**Review!**


	6. The Suggestion

**Exams are over. That makes me happy. I'm working on the IP epilogue, thinking about possibly getting Drunk updated after this, and trying to work out how much more is left of Making it Right. I know where I'm going with MIR, just not sure how many chapters I should put it into. Currently watching Ghost Whisperer, haven't done that in years, killing Jim killed my love for the show, but this is season 3, so it's all good.**

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Ellen looked up as her teenage daughter stomped into the kitchen, roughly sitting on one of the stools by the island. Huffing as she crossed her arms on the counter and began to survey her mother and younger sister.

"Ana." Ellen smiled, ruffling the hair of the eight year old. "You want to go find your shoes?"

The child glanced between her mother and sister as if she was trying to figure out what she was missing, trying to wear them down with the suspicion in her gaze. She nodded slowly. "Whatever."

Ellen watched as she skipped out of the room, somewhat mistrusting when it came to her youngest daughter following instructions, before cautiously approaching her oldest child. "I thought you were going out."

Gabriella scowled. "So did I."

"Troy's running a little late?" Ellen knew the answer that would come.

"Two hours, mom!" Gabriella exclaimed. "He's not a little late. A little late I could handle, but he's two hours late."

Ellen grimaced. It was beginning to look like things had picked up a few weeks before only to fall apart straight away. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed in him. She'd trusted him to treat her daughter right, encouraged the teenager to open up to him when he was pulling away, and he was still letting her down.

"What did he say when he called?"

She watched as her daughter's eyes narrowed further. "Apparently I don't get calls anymore. I'm just meant to guess what's going on. I'm meant to just know any changes in our plans."

"Sweetheart?" Ellen started, unsure of how her vulnerable daughter would react to her suggestion. "Have you ever considered maybe telling him you want a break from the relationship?"

Tears glistened in her daughter's eyes as she nodded. "I love him, mom." She hesitated. "But I'm not sure I can do this anymore." Another pause. "I thought that...

Ellen sighed, placing a comforting hand on the teen's shoulder. "Maybe you just need to wake him up, baby. Telling him how you were feeling didn't work, maybe you just have to show him."

"I can't." Gabriella choked. "I can't hurt him, mom."

"He's hurting you." Ellen stated bluntly. "I like the boy, sweetie, but I won't have him treating you like this. Do you have any idea how close I am to talking to your father about this?"

"Mom!" Gabriella exclaimed. "You can't tell him, you promised. I'll think about it, just don't tell daddy."

Ellen surveyed her daughter for a moment, taking in her expression before she nodded slightly. "Not a word if you promise to sort things out. Either he sorts his head out or you end it. I don't like seeing you like this."

Gabriella nodded, standing up to leave the room, her eyes automatically widening when her gaze passed the window. "Mom, I don't want to talk to him right now."

Ellen nodded, knowing that she was going to have to force the conversation anyway, watching as the teenage boy she had come to see as part of the family made his way to the front door wearing an expression which told her that he knew he was in trouble. "I'm taking Ana shopping, sweetie. We won't be long."

Gabriella nodded, running towards the stairs, her footsteps echoing as she climbed them. The doorbell chimed before her bedroom door was even closed.

"Hi, Troy." She sighed at the chirpy voice. She should have considered the possibility that Ana would go running for the door. "Gabby was in the kitchen and mommy wouldn't let me hear them. Now we're going shopping."

"That's great." Ellen heard the boy claim as she made her way towards them. "You have fun for me?"

"Troy." Ellen spoke, keeping her tone stern as she watched both he and Ana turn to her.

"Mrs. Montez." He greeted, and she noted that he'd read the situation and concluded that at this point, he did not have the right to use her first name like he usually did. "How mad is she?"

Ellen almost faltered when his nervousness became clear. "She's in her room. She doesn't want to see you." She watched his reaction carefully, his face falling at the words, but a distinct lack of surprise. "Even if she listens this time." She reasoned. "If this keeps happening, there will be a point where she stops listening."

He nodded, understanding that he had been given permission to go to his girlfriend. "I understand that."

"Carlos tells me that you're trying to protect her." She waited until he nodded before continuing. "You need to consider whether or not this protection is going to harm her in other ways." He nodded again, watching as she stepped around him, taking the hand of her youngest child. "I won't keep letting you up there if this carries on."

He waited until she had gone before sprinting up the stairs, barely taking the time to knock on the door of his girlfriend's room before bursting in, finding her with her back to him, curled in a ball on her bed.

"Baby?"

"Go away."

"Babe." He kept his tone soft, approaching her slowly. "I'm sorry I'm late. I was up late last night. I overslept."

She sighed, that explained the lack of a call. She always knew when he was lying to her, even if she wasn't looking at him, and she could tell that he was being honest with her about this. "Okay."

"No." He whispered, sitting down next to her, running a hand down her arm. "No, it's not okay." She didn't respond, but didn't reject the comfort of the slight contact on her arm. "I'll make it up to you."

"I'm sick of hearing that."

"I know."

"Do you?" She sat up, the move knocking his hand off of her as she faced him, allowing him to see her tear stained face. "Really? Because if you did, if you really knew, then you'd stop giving yourself reasons to say it."

"I'm..."

"I know. _You're sorry_." She spat, sarcasm evident in her voice. "That stopped meaning something weeks ago. That stopped meaning something to me when it stopped meaning anything to you."

He frowned, knowing better than to reach for her. His words had already angered her. "It still does mean something. I know I've screwed up a lot, but I promise you..."

"I'm sick of your empty promises." Her voice was raised, making her glad that her father was out at that moment. She lowered her tone as she turned away from him, staring at the floor by her bed, the pale purple of the carpeted floor not much by way of a distraction. "I can't take this anymore, Troy." She could almost feel his panic as she spoke the words. "I'm not strong enough."

"What are you saying?" His hand was on her arm again, trying to soothe her.

"I'm saying," She sobbed. "That you're clearly too busy for me right now. I'm saying that maybe we need to take a break."

"No." The word escaped his lips before he'd even had time to think about it, his arms wrapping around her from behind. "No." He heard her sharp intake of breathe that came after his refusal. "I'm not too busy for you, okay." He knew the words would be pretty much worthless at that point, but was willing to try anything to get the chance to prove them. "I'm in this, okay?"

"I can't..."

"Hey," He interrupted. "No breaks, okay." He paused, trying to hold in his fear of the situation. "You're upset, you're not thinking straight. Please, think about it, talk to me about it, but don't make a decision like that now. Please. Let me make it up to you." He felt her lean back on him for support and smiled, despite not trying to read to much into the action. "I love you."

"Okay." He felt her nod and automatically brought his lips to her crown. "Okay."

He managed to turn her around, slowly laying back on her bed, allowing her to rest her head on his chest. She was still crying, and he knew she didn't trust him at that point, but he'd managed to settle her again. For now anyway.

"Troy?" He reponded by kissing her temple. "I still need to think about it."

"I know." He confirmed. "Whatever you decide, though." He decided she should know how things stood with him on the subject. "I'm not going to give you up."

She continued to cry into his chest, and he knew that his best bet at that point was to let her, it usually didn't take her long to cry herself to sleep when she was upset, he only hoped that his presence would comfort her enough to get her sleeping sooner. He hated to see her cry.

**-FP-**

Ellen's eyes narrowed at the sight of the truck. She'd considered numerous possibilities about how the minutes of her daughter's life would go after she had left her alone with her boyfriend, not one of them had involved her returning to her home to find him still there. She sighed, retrieving shopping bags from the trunk of the car before heading inside with Ana.

After setting Ana up at the dining room table with a stack of paper and crayons, she headed towards the room of her oldest child, unable to help but smile softly when she walked into the room.

Troy had met her eyes almost as soon as she had entered the room, having heard her enter. He smiled faintly before looking back to his girlfriend. "I don't want to leave her."

Ellen frowned. "Who said you have to leave her?"

He turned again. "I just thought..."

Ellen took a step into the room, leaning against the wall behind her. "I'm not going to make you leave." Her gaze flickered towards her sleeping daughter's face then back up to him. "Not this time." She paused, studying him for a second. "Did she listen?"

He nodded.

"You seem worried."

He shut his eyes, leaning down to kiss his girlfriend's temple before responding. "I want her to yell at me, hit me if she has to, but she doesn't. She just goes quiet, and I don't know how to get her to talk properly. I know that I'm upsetting her, and I know how I'm upsetting her, but I don't know how much, she won't tell me."

Ellen nodded in understanding. "She's closing up, trying to protect herself. She was the same when my sister died. She'll talk when she's ready, but not if you keep going the way you're going."

Troy watched as she stepped out of the room before falling into silence, deep in thought. It was some time later when Gabriella began to stir in his arms, unconciously tightening her grip on him as she slowly woke up.

"Hey." He kept his voice soft as her eyes opened.

"Hi" She tried to mask the emotion on her face. "You stayed."

"The plan was to spend the day with you." He reminded her. "This morning didn't go to plan, but you didn't think going to sleep on me would stop this afternoon, did you?"

She gave a faint smile before sitting up. "I need some space." She edged back a bit when he immedately jumped up, attempting to embrace her. "To think." The elaboration seemed to calm him a little. "You want me to think and, I'm going to need space to do that."

"Now?"

She nodded. "I need to figure things out, and so do you. I'll call you."

He sighed, but slowly nodded, agreeing to her request. "Okay, call me if you need me."

**-FP-**

Gabriella sighed as she walked through the park, beginning to wish that she hadn't declined the company of her younger brother before she left, he never seemed that eager to spend time with her, and his offer had made her suspicious, but still, she was regretting her rejection of it. Parks weren't fun alone, and although she doubted it, she couldn't be sure that she wouldn't have been having a better time if Carlos was there with her. She'd even rejected her father's suggestion that she take Ana. The males in her family seemed reluctant to let her be alone, especially out of the house, and she couldn't help but think that it had something to do with what her boyfriend wouldn't tell her. She knew that Troy had told Carlos, would it really be so much of a stretch for Carlos to have informed their dad?

She made her way over to the familiar tree, the tree that years ago, even before they started dating, she and her boyfriend had carved their initials into. They'd been twelve, and at the time had decided that they'd be best friends forever, even though they had only known eachother for 5 months at the time. She'd only moved there that year.

"_Troy!" Gabriella called, glancing over at her ten year old brother. "You promised me you'd help me watch Carlos while Mom took Ana to the doctor." He heard her fast approaching steps, saw her shadow as she approached. "It's the first time that she's..." He smiled at her hesitation. "What are you doing?"_

_He turned to her, noticing that her gaze was fixed on the penknife he had in his hand. "I'm making my mark."_

_Her brow furrowed."Like dogs pee on trees?"_

"_No." he denied, before pausing. "Kinda, I guess." He looked back to the tree. "I want to be remembered."_

_She watched as he finished carving his initials. "No one's going to forget you, Troy."_

"_As long as you don't." He smiled, turning back to her. "We'll always be best friends, right?"_

"_Right." She agreed. "You and me against the world." She held out her hand. "Can I try?"_

_He grinned, holding out the knife._

Gabriella couldn't help but giggle slightly at the memory. It was the day she'd decided she loved him, and promising they'd be friends forever had seemed to be the perfect way to show that, they had become so much more than that, and for that she was glad.

She sighed, knowing she had a lot to think about. Had they lost sight of that promise while they were too wrapped up in their relationship? Did they need a break to sort that out?

"Hey." She almost jumped at the unfamiliar voice. "What's a girl like you doing here alone?"

She turned around slowly, coming face to face with a boy around her own age, his dark eyes seemingly searching her face for it's hidden depths, hidden depths that she only ever revealed to her boyfriend, his brunette hair perfectly still on his head.

She stopped herself from scoffing at his appearance. Gel. Troy never used the stuff. He never had, and she didn't want him to.

"Hi." She gave a faint smile, stepping past the unfamiliar figure in an attempt to dodge conversation.

"You seemed lost." The boy continued. "Deep in thought."

She turned around. "Got a lot to figure out."

"Need any help?"

"I doubt you can help me." She tried to shake him off again. "It's personal, and I don't know you..."

"Try me." He interrupted, seemingly sensing her reluctance. "Come on, I've got problems too, maybe we can share."

She smiled faintly, heading towards a near bench, waiting until he sat down next to her. "Why'd you talk to me?"

"Pretty girl in a park alone." The boy explained. "Generally means something's up. No boyfriend?"

She frowned. "We had a fight, well, sort of, it wasn't really a fight. He's just not really there right now."

"Ah."

"He's trying." She put in. "I'm just not sure that's enough."

"I've got an idea." The boy was smiling brightly. "Ditch him, date me."

Gabriella laughed. "I don't even know your name."

He let out a chuckle. "I don't know yours."

She held out a hand. "Gabriella."

She watched as he took her hand carefully, bringing it up to his lips and softly kissing the skin. "Aiden."

* * *

**Yes, I know. I'm evil, but I did say not to expect the fluff.**

**Review!**


	7. The Blow Up

**Not many chapters left now, this was never going to be as long as my other stories, not sure I have the will power for that length now. This is my last week at college, at this point I finish Thursday, due to the tutor cancelling my friday class, but tomorrow may be the last day because of the whole strike action thing, just need to find out if my other tutor is striking on Thursday. None of this matters to you, except it's one less thing getting in the way of updates. I'm going to try and pick it up as soon as I've finished. The next chapter shouldn't take to long, because it's the one I've really been wanting to write.**

* * *

"You sure you're gonna be okay?"

"You can't ditch school, Troy." Paige sighed, becoming irritated by his repeated question. "I'm okay. Aiden doesn't know where you live. He can't find me." She paused. "Your mom is only going to be gone a couple of hours."

"You'll call if you want me to come back?"

"I won't." Paige huffed. "Just go, and say hi to Gabriella for me."

Troy smiled faintly, remembering the day just over a week ago that he had finally introduced his girlfriend to his cousin, after, of course, the latter had promised to keep quiet about what was going on. "Will do."

"She did like me, didn't she?"

"Right now." He frowned. "I think she likes you more than she likes me."

"Maybe if you told her..."

"I've already told you that's not an option."

"Why?"

"You have no idea how much it'll hurt her." He claimed. "She's sensitive enough, without having to go through that again."

He watched as Paige's eyes narrowed at the words. "Again?"

He shook his head. "I've already said too much. Look, just drop it, I'm looking after her. I'm looking after her the only way I know how."

"By hiding things from her?"

"By protecting her from things like this."

"You're being ridiculous." Paige concluded. "Especially now Aiden's in Albuquerque. What if he finds her?"

Troy frowned as Paige brought up the text from weeks before, before defending his decision to continue hiding the situation from his girlfriend. "He doesn't know her, he wouldn't go near her."

"That's not what you were saying a few weeks ago."

"It's different now."

"How? Aiden likes pretty girls Troy." Paige reminded him. "He likes pretty girls. His type is pretty, that's all he cares about. If he ever sees her, he'll approach her."

Troy shook his head, suddenly anxious to get out of the house. "I'm already late, I'll check with Gabs, see if she'll come over after school, okay? As long as you keep your mouth shut."

**-FP-**

"So." Taylor teased. "Have you told Troy about this guy yet?"

"Things are good right now." Gabriella sighed. "I don't want to ruin it."

"Gabs." Her friend frowned. "You know what he's like, if you don't tell him, and he sees you with a guy he doesn't know, he'll either jump to conclusions or decide you're being abducted, with him, most likely door number two, either way, this guy gets hurt."

"Troy wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Usually." Taylor corrected. "He usually wouldn't, but this involves you." She hesitated. "I don't get what the big deal is Gabs. I mean, nothing's going on between you and this guy, right? Where's the harm in telling Troy about him?"

Gabriella sighed. "Troy's been... protective. I thought it was because of what I said, about maybe taking a break, but it's not, this is something else. He basically yelled at me yesterday for saying I'd walk home from school alone. I told him I didn't mind and that I didn't want to wait until after practice, but he wouldn't let me. If he's like that over me walking home, something I've done loads of times before, what's he going to be like if I tell him I've kinda become friends with some guy that just approached me at the park?"

"Maybe he's got a point." Taylor reasoned. "You should tell him."

"Why?" Gabriella snapped, stopping in front of her locker. "He's keeping things from me, why can't I keep things from him?"

"Is that was this is about?" Taylor queried. "You're punishing him?"

"Excuse me?"

"He's hurting you by keeping something from you." Taylor explained. "So you figured you'd hurt him by doing the same?" Gabriella stayed quiet. "It's not the same, you know. He's trying to protect you, you're trying to hurt him."

"How do you know?" Gabriella put in, taking out the books she needed for her first classes. "How do you know he's not just saying that?"

"Chad told me." Taylor confirmed. "What happened to you trusting Troy with your life?"

"Chad knows!"Gabriella exclaimed. "He'll tell Chad whats going on but not me!" She paused, turning to her friend. "And he told you! Am I the only one who doesn't know?"

"I don't know." Taylor corrected. "Chad just told me that Troy explained it to him, and that it is about protecting you. He wouldn't say any more, believe me, I tried."

"I'll tell him about Aiden when he tells me what's going on." Gabriella decided, slamming her locker shut.

"This is ridiculous." Taylor claimed, follwing her friend down the hallway. "You're mad, I get it, we all get it, even Troy gets it, but this, this is stupid, tell him about Aiden before he finds out from someone else and jumps to conclusions."

"Who else is he going to find out from?" Gabriella responded. "You're the only person I've told, are you going to tell him?"

Taylor watched as her friend stormed off, unaware of how they'd got from an everyday conversation to a tensed disagreement.

**-FP-**

"Can I have her back now?" Troy called through the door of his cousin's room.

"No." Paige's voice returned, followed by the distinct giggle of his girlfriend.

"What if I said please?"

"Babe you've had me all day." Gabriella pointed out, looking towards the door. "You gotta learn to share."

"I didn't have to share you before."

She laughed at the sound of his whining. "Which is why you have to learn now."

"What are you two even doing in there?"

"Girl stuff." The blonde answered. "Want us to paint your nails?"

"No." Troy refused. "I want my girlfriend."

"Good things come to those who wait." Gabriella responded, unable to contain her laughs.

"Is that a promise?"

Gabriella bit her lip, managing to stifle her amused response before answering. "Not while your mom's in the house."

"Paige!" Troy called. "Tell mom you want to go out."

Both girls laughed at the comment.

"Is he always like that?" Paige queried as she heard her cousin give up and move away from the door.

Gabriella nodded. "Pretty much, except recently, he's been a little off, it looks like things are going back to normal." She hesitated, glancing towards the door then back at the blonde. "Why are you staying with Troy, again?"

Paige frowned, instantly catching on to what was happening. "Just some stuff going on at home. It's better I'm not there."

"That bad?"

"You could put it like that."

"He's been pretty sketchy on the details." Gabriella continued, becoming more frustrated as the conversation continued. "Is it really that bad?"

"I guess." Paige continued to evade the questions. "Your hair looks really good like that. I should teach you."

Gabriella nodded, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Have you ever had anyone in your life, that treats you like you're weak? Like you can't look after yourself? I hate that."

Paige sighed. "Gabriella, he doesn't want you to know. I promised."

She watched as the brunette rolled her eyes, the annoyance in her tone obvious as she responded. "You aswell? I swear, anyone would think I'm incapable of doing anything myself."

"If it helps," Paige started. "He won't tell me why he doesn't want you to know. I've been trying to get him to tell you for weeks. He won't listen."

"So you tell me." Gabriella tried. "He's not the boss of you."

"They've been good to me." Paige reasoned. "This is the one thing I can do. Aunt Lucy and Uncle Jack won't let me help, all I can do is help him."

"You're helping him protect his male ego." Gabriella claimed. "Not me."

"Gab..." Paige turned to the door, listening for any sound on the other side. "Okay." She paused. "But you can't tell him I told you." She hesitated again, glancing back at the door. "I had this boyfriend..."

"Okay?"

"Not really." Paige frowned. "I was stupid, I should have known better, I DID, know better, but I thought that..."

She jumped when the door slammed open, took in her cousin as he stormed into the room without a word, grasping his girlfriend's arm and pulling her up. He turned on his cousin, still gripping onto Gabriella. "We had a deal."

"She should know, Troy." Paige excused. "Someone has to tell her."

"I'll tell her." He claimed. "I'll tell her when it's over and she doesn't need to worry about it."

"Still here, you know." Gabriella frowned, trying pull out of the tight grip. "And I want to know."

He pulled her from the room sending one last glare at his cousin before leading her down the stairs and towards the kitchen, where he finally relaxed his grip. She turned to him, watching for a while as he paced.

"You're mad at me." She observed moments later. "You're mad at me, yet you're the one keeping secrets." She failed to mention her own secret.

"You put her in an impossible position." Troy snapped. "Of course I'm mad. Why can't you just let me protect you? What's so bad about that?"

"I don't need protecting." Gabriella argued. "I'm not as weak as you like to think I am. I don't need you to look after me."

"I need you to be happy." He retorted, and his words almost immediately made her weaken, made the weak feeling of guilt run through her. "I need to know you're happy."

"I'll be happier when I know what's going on." She claimed, turning away from him.

"We've been through this." He tried. "You're better off not knowing. I'm sorry if that upsets you, but that's the way it is."

"If it was that bad," Gabriella fumed. "Then Paige would agree with you, she wouldn't have even thought about telling me, but she did, which tells me that you're making this bigger than it has to be."

"You're being difficult."

"And you're being an ass." She scowled, turning on her heel. "Call me when you decide to stop."

"Gab..."

"I have to go." She snapped. "I'm meeting a friend."

She stormed out of the door, heading towards the park where she had first met Aiden, sitting down on the familiar bench some twenty minutes later before taking out her cell and texting.

"You okay?"

She smiled softly, glancing up at the teen as he approached. "Had another fight with Troy."

"I was serious, you know." He teased. "When I said you should date me instead."

"What about your girlfriend?" She questioned. "The one you came here to find."

"Just about giving up." He sighed, his eyes flicking to her hair before meeting her eyes again. "She didn't exactly leave an address."

"You never did tell me why she ran off."

"She didn't." he claimed. "Her dad hated me, sent her away, it took a while for me to figure out she was here somewhere."

"Aiden." Gabriella frowned, noticing his eyes go to her hair again. "If you love her, you shouldn't give up on her."

"It's not as if she's tried to contact me."

"Doesn't mean you should give up."

"I guess not."

They fell into silence for a few seconds, before Gabriella broke it. "Have I got something in my hair?"

"What?" He asked. "No, why?"

"You keep looking at my hair."

"It looks nice." He claimed. "Did you do that yourself?"

"No." Gabriella admitted. "A friend of mine did, Paige. She said she'd teach me, but we haven't got round to it yet."

"Well," He decided, a newfound spark in his eye. "It's nice."

Gabriella frowned, noticing the change in his demeanour, unsure as to whether or not it was a good thing. "Thanks." She stood up. "I should probably go. I was kinda mad when I left Troy's, he'll probably start calling my house to check I got home soon."

Aiden nodded. "Tomorrow? Same time?"

She smiled. "Sure."

* * *

**Review?**


	8. The Disappearing Act

**This took longer than I thought it would, and I made a few changes, it was going to play out differently, but when I wrote it that way, I didn't like it, no matter how many ways I tried it, so I changed it a little. **

**There's not much left after this, kinda obvious, considering where this ends, probably about two chapters.**

**I'm hoping to get another Drunk chapter out after this, surprising how much I'm getting from that considering it was only meant to be a oneshot.**

* * *

Paige sighed as Troy slammed the phone down, his pacing intensifying after he threw it on the couch. He'd been growing increasingly agitated after every phone call he made, and the one person she knew could distract him was the person making him that way.

"Maybe she's still angry." She tried reasoning, attempting to calm him down. "She could be ignoring you so she doesn't say something she regrets."

"She lied to her parents!" He exclaimed, facing her. "She told them she was out with Taylor. I've called Taylor, she hasn't seen her. I called the others too, every single one of our friends, she's not with any of them!"

"Do you even know all of her friends?"

"Yes!" He insisted. "We have the same friends, none of them have seen her." He hesitated. "Give me your phone."

Paige frowned. "Why?"

"She's not taking my calls." He explained. "Give me your phone."

"Troy." Paige sighed. "She's not taking my calls either. Probably for that reason – she think's it's you. Give her some space."

"She can have all the space she wants." He claimed. "At home, where I know where she is, that she's safe. It's dangerous out there."

"I know you probably don't want to hear this." Paige frowned. "But she doesn't know it's dangerous, you didn't tell her, and if my some chance he does meet her, he won't hurt her straight away, he'll wait until she trusts him, thats what he did with me."

"That doesn't make me feel better." He growled, lunging for his phone again and beginning to dial.

"What are you doing?"

"Calling her brother." He brought the phone to his ear, turning away from his cousin.

"Really?" Paige queried, her eyes narrowing. "Are you serious?" She watched as he nodded. "Way to make her more pissed at you."

"I'm worried about he..." He cut off, turning to the window. "Carlos, it's Troy." Pause. "Yeah, Your mom told me, it's just... are you sure Gabriella said she was with Taylor?...Taylor said she hasn't seen her...I tried, she's not answering her phone, I was wondering if she might answer to you." Pause. "Could you? He turned to his cousin. "He's going to call her, then call me back. If she doesn't answer him he's going to tell their dad."

Paige shook her head as he hung up. "That was so out of order."

"Maybe it'll teach her not to run off and lie about it."

"Do you know how childish that was?"

"I'm worried." He defended. "My girlfriend is missing, her family have a right to know about it."

"Childish." Paige insisted. "You've just made the whole situation between the two of you even worse."

"If I hadn't of told him," Troy reasoned. "I'd have made the situation between myself and her dad worse. He already hates me, I'd have given him more reason to if he knew that I'd known she was missing and hadn't told him as soon as I knew."

"There's a difference between unreachable and missing." Paige pointed out. "Okay, I don't know why she lied to her parents, but that doesn't mean she's not coming back, maybe she just wanted time for herself?"

"She can have time for herself at home!"He insisted. "She doesn't need to run off and lie."

"You need to chill." Paige decided. "She's probably fine. I haven't heard from Aiden in days, for all we know, he gave up and went home."

"He's not the only thing that could hurt her." Troy pointed out, sitting before dropping his head into his hands. "There are so many people out there and..." He sighed. "She knows that I worry."

"You should have told her." Paige repeated her thoughts. "She might have been more careful."

"I couldn't." He claimed. "I couldn't hurt her like that." He looked over at his cousin, noticing the questions in her gaze. "She's been through it before, when she was younger, indirectly, but still, I couldn't remind her of that, it's my job to protect her from everything, not bring back the most painful memories of her life."

"She doesn't need you to protect her from memories." Paige frowned. "She just needs you to help her move on from them."

He groaned painfully, leaning back against the couch. "I should have told her."

Paige nodded. "You should have told her."

He stood suddenly, startling her as he sprinted from the room. Paige followed behind him, frowning at the sight of him rushing to get his shoes on.

"What are you doing?" The question fell on deaf ears as he pulled open the door. "Troy, where are you going?"

"To find her." He insisted, barely waiting for her to slip her shoes on and follow him. "I'm going to find her, and I'm going to tell her. Then maybe, maybe she'll understand why I don't want her out on her own, and why I didn't want to tell her."

"You don't even know where she is." Paige reminded him. "This is ridiculous."

"I know her, Paige." He stated. "I know her. If anyone can find her, I can."

**-FP-**

Gabriella glanced over at the tree, feeling a pang of guilt at the sight of the initials. She hated shutting him out, hated lying to him, but how else was she meant to get through to him? Hurting him back seemed to be all she had left. Maybe if he found out she'd been lying to him to, he'd understand where she was coming from.

"You zoned out on me again?"

She turned at the voice, giving Aiden a soft smile as she made walked away from the tree. "Just thinking."

"Boyfriend?"

"Yep." She frowned when his eyes darkened at the confirmation. "I know I probably shouldn't miss him after the way he's been treating me, but I do." She hesitated. "I keep thinking I should call him."

"Why?"

"He's called me six times since I got here." She pointed out. "He's probably freaking out."

She sighed as her cell rang again, knowing that this time, it wasn't her boyfriend, the familiar ringtone informing her that the caller was her brother. She took it out, intent on answering it, jumping in shock when Aiden knocked it out of her hand.

"I don't want you to answer that."

She picked it up, relieved to see that it wasn't broken, before turning on him. "You have no right to do that." She paused. "Why the hell would you think that was okay?"

"I told you not to talk to him."

"That was my brother!"She exclaimed. "The fact that he's calling me at all, means that my parents probably know that I lied to them, and that I'm not with Taylor." She turned, walking back to the tree, feeling him follow behind her. "I am going to be in so much trouble when I get home."

"So." Aiden shrugged. "Don't go."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't go home." He repeated. "Run away with me. I mean, I've made it obvious how I feel, I don't keep asking you out for the sake of it."

"I have a boyfriend, Aiden!" She reminded him, her tone sharp. "And I can't just walk out on my family." She traced the initials on the tree. "Besides, what about your girlfriend? The one you're trying to find?"

He sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder and turning her around. "I'm not bothered about finding Paige anymore, not since I met you."

Gabriella frowned. "Paige?"

"Forget her."

"You never told me her name was Paige." She paused, eying him suspiciously. "What's her last name?"

"Why does it matter?"

"What's her last name, Aiden?"

He sighed. "Collins. Paige Collins. Why's that so important?"

Gabriella couldn't hide her shock, and she knew he'd noticed immediately. "I know where she is."

"I don't care." Aiden insisted. "I don't want her. I want you. Come away with me."

"This is insane." She claimed, storming past him, forgetting her line of thought. "You're insane."

He grabbed her, pulling her roughly to a standstill. "Don't you ever call me that!"

"Let go of me!" She exclaimed, trying to pull away. "Aiden, you're hurting me, please, stop."

"Promise me you'll never say that again." He pulled on her wrist. "Promise me."

"Aiden." She cried out in both pain and fear. "Aiden you're scaring me."

She closed her eyes, trying to block him out, stumbling backwards when she felt herself released. Her eyes remained shut until she felt someone's arms around her, began crying at the familiar scent. She opened her eyes, turning without leaving the safety of the other person, to see Aiden on the floor, glaring up at them.

"You stay the hell away from her." She shrunk back as the demand was made. "Next time you'll be in hospital."

She watched as Aiden stood, spitting on the ground in front of them. "You can't keep her away from me. I'll get her soon."

"Gab." The male comforted as soon as Aiden was gone. "We've been crazy worried about you."

"I'm sorry." She felt the tears in her eyes as she was slowly released, but tried to force a smile anyway, when she met the gaze of her boyfriend's best friend, her kind of surrogate brother.

"I need you to tell me who that was."

"His name's Aiden Grayson." She explained. "I met him a few weeks ago, I thought he was nice, but..." She paused upon seeing Chad's face. "Chad?"

"I'm going to call Troy." He told her firmly. "Tell him I got you and that you're okay. Then the two of you need to talk." He hesitated, wrapping an arm around her shoulders before leading her towards his car. "You need to stay away from him, okay?"

"Chad..."

"I'm serious." He gestured to her wrist. "He hurt you."

"I'm fine."

"You're telling Troy that." Chad decided. "You know, he was going insane, called us all and gave us somewhere he wanted us to check. Why'd you just run off without telling anyone where you were going?"

"I didn't know what was going to happen." She tried, getting into the car and waiting for him to walk around before continuing. "I thought he was my friend. I didn't know that would happen." She paused. "It's never happened before. Maybe I should talk to him or something. See what was up."

"I told you to stay away from him." Chad repeated. "He's bad news, Gabs, stay away."

"You don't even know him."

"I know enough."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gabriella complained, sighing in frustration when he turned away from her, reaching for her phone. "Chad, what do you mean?"

"You need to ask Troy."

**-FP-**

Paige watched as her cousin hung up the phone, sighing in both relief and anger as he started driving again. "Who was that?"

"Chad." Troy confirmed what she'd already managed to work out. "He's got her. We're heading home. He said he'll meet us there."

"You still going to tell her?"

"I don't have a choice anymore." The frown on his face conveying his emotions. "He got to her, Paige. Aiden got to her. Chad said she's okay, but..." He hesitated. "It's my fault. If i'd have told her as soon as I could, she'd never have been upset, and she'd have run when he approached her."

"Did he hurt her?"

"He didn't tell me." Troy frowned. "I know him. If she wasn't hurt in any way, he'd have told me."

Paige turned, glancing out of the window, her eyes widening as she automatically turned back to him. "Troy, you're speeding. Slow down." He ignored her. "Troy, slow down before you get pulled over."

He listened, reluctantly slowing down to the limit. "I want to get to her."

"Clearly." Paige commented. "Getting yourself killed isn't going to get you to her though."

He stayed silent, the next sound i the car being the sigh he let out as they turned onto his street. He pulled into the driveway, jumping out of the car almost as soon as it stopped before sprinting towards the road, wrapping his girlfriend in his arms the second he reached her.

"What were you thinking?"

She responded, taking comfort in his arms after the shock of the day. "I..." She cut off, unsure whether or not now was the time to tell him that she'd been deliberately trying to hurt him. "Chad said you'll talk to me."

He nodded, pulling back and grasping her hand. "Never do that to me again, okay?"

She frowned. "Don't change the subject!"

He nodded thanks to his friend as he saw him get back into his car, turning to Paige before answering his girlfriend. "Can you call her brother? Tell him we've found her."

Paige lightly nodded in agreement, taking his cell as he held it out to her before disappearing into the house.

He turned nervously to his girlfriend. "Do you want to go inside?"

She dropped his hand, throwing her own up in the air. "Just get it over with!"

Troy's eyes narrowed. "What happened to your wrist?"

"I'll tell you when you tell me." She bargained defiantly. "Chad said on the way here that you _have_ to tell me now."

"He's right." He sighed. "Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it." He took hold of her hand again, leading her around to the backyard. "I'd like it acknowledged that I did try and protect you from all of this."

"Troy!"

"Okay, okay." He took her up to the treehouse, sitting down once there, gesturing for her to sit next to him. "I guess I should start with Paige..."

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	9. The Confessions

**Confession: I've had this chapter sitting on my laptop half-written for months. Then I had a period of time where I just couldn't be bothered with anything. When my motivation came back, it was time to go back to college, so I've had no time. So, I was sitting there, watching Cold Case, and it dawned on me that I hadn't updated anything in months, so I switched to season one of Grey's Anatomy and finished this.**

**Chapter 9 means epilogue next. It's only a 10-chapter story. This is kinda sad, all of my long-term stories have ended this year. I'll have to end Aftermath soon too. Soon I'll only have Drunk and the new, as of yet unnamed, story, which is kind of at a standstill right now while I work on finishing up this one.**

**On a lighter note, kinda, the reason I couldn't be bothered to do anything is that I started watching Pretty Little Liars. It was something i'd always intended to watch, so I took the opportunity when it arose. Once I started, I couldn't stop.**

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Gabriella sat patiently waiting for her boyfriend to speak. It couldn't be clearer that he didn't want to tell her what he was trying so hard to get out, so she'd decided to give him a few minutes to think it through. It wasn't good, she knew that after he had reacted to it, and she knew that pushing him further could cause him to close up again.

She frowned when he sighed, shifting closer to him as she waited, resting her chin on his shoulder. "You said you wanted to start with Paige."

"I just..." He paused. "I don't know how to tell you this."

"Hey," She tried. "If I freak out, you're here. I'm allowed to freak out when you're here, remember?"

She smiled faintly when her words achieved a laugh. The reference to one of his many overprotective statements helping to relax him.

"Paige." He tried starting again, pulling back from her slightly and grasping on to her hand. "I told you she came to stay with us because something was going on at home." She nodded, rubbing her thumb along the skin of his hand softly. "You know her mom died, right? So it was just her and her dad, and then her step-mom and little brother too." She nodded again. "Her mom died the same way my grandmother did. Drunk driver hit her head on."

Gabriella shifted closer to him again. "That's horrible."

"Yeah." He agreed. "I guess none of that's necessary though, not with what's going on now. I just think you need to know that to understand why she doesn't always make the best choices."

Gabriella nodded. "Okay."

"She started seeing this guy."

"Aiden?"

Troy nodded. "Aiden. He was,um, well, he was..." He cut off, turning as Gabriella pulled away when she sensed his hesitation. She was still looking at him, but her mind seemed to be somewhere else. It was clear she had a pretty good idea of what he was going to say. "She didn't know he was like that, if she had she'd of stayed away, but she didn't, and she trusted him. By the time she realised that maybe he wasn't such a good guy, they were already together, and she thought she loved him."

"She didn't?"

"She was confused." He claimed. "They'd been together for a while when it started. She kinda depended on him. He'd stopped her hanging around with the friends of hers that he didn't like, the ones he thought would see through him I guess. She didn't notice until he started... until he started..."

"You can say it." Her voice cracked when she confirmed that she'd picked up on what he'd been trying so hard to avoid saying. "He got abusive. Physically."

Troy nodded, unable to repeat the words. "Yeah." He reached for her, pulling her as close to him as possible to try and prevent her from shutting down like she had for weeks after she'd told him about her aunt. "Paige said that it wasn't so bad at first, that the first time he apologised so much she'd thought it was an accident. Then he hit her again. He apologised for a while, but then he stopped, and that's when he got more violent."

He watched as Gabriella sniffed, turning to wipe her eyes on his shirt. "I get it."

"You get it?"

"Why you didn't want to tell me." She elaborated. "I get it. You didn't want to see me cry, and you thought you could stop it by not telling me."

He nodded. "I just didn't want to be the one to bring it all back."

"It wouldn't have been you though." She looked up at him, and he noticed the tears still trailing down her cheeks. "It would have been him." She leaned back against his shoulder. "I feel so stupid."

He frowned. "Why?"

"I went to my aunts every day after school for years." She reminded him. "If anyone should know the signs it's me, but I didn't notice, and I let him in." She hesitated. "And Paige. I should have seen the signs." She paused again. "I guess I'm still just as useless at figuring this stuff out."

"Gab." He sighed protectively. "It's not you. I didn't want you to know. I kept you away from Paige as long as I could to stop you finding out. I waited until I thought she was going to be able to hide it from you."

"I still should have been able to read him."

He groaned slightly, this had been one of the many reactions he'd been scared of. "Why would you ever think that some guy you barely know is bad? You see the good in people first. I'm the one that's too protective for that."

"I didn't even tell you." She sniffed. "I was too busy trying to hurt you to think about the possibility that I could actually be putting myself in danger by not telling you about some random guy approaching me."

"You know we need to talk about that." He frowned. "You trying to hurt me. I mean, I understand it, but it wasn't really the right reaction, so we need to talk about it."

She nodded. "Can it wait until tomorrow. I need to think."

He sighed, planting a kiss on her crown while taking in the scent of her hair. "I need to know, Gab." He tightened his hold on her "I need to know what he said to you."

She sighed, sensing that he wasn't going to let it drop. "When I first met him, he just questioned why I was alone. It was just after I'd asked you for time to think, and I was still mad at you, so I wasn't really thinking about this random guy talking to me. I was stressed and he was funny." She paused, biting her lip at the thought of what she was going to say. "And he was there." She watched as he flinched. "He told me that he was looking for his girlfriend. That her dad had sent her away because she was dating him. I told him about you. He kept telling me to date him instead, I thought he was kidding. The things he said made sense, he told me that if you didn't trust me then I shouldn't trust you and it really made sense." She felt him tense up. "I thought I could trust him, and he told me not to tell you about him."

"If I'd have been honest with you..."

"I should have trusted you." She interrupted. "I was just trying to hurt you and that was wrong. I know it was." She paused, looking down at her hands, noticing the bruising on her wrist. "He didn't hurt me. Not until today. He grabbed me when I tried to leave, if Chad hadn't have been there..."

"He was." He watched as she yawned. " It's getting late. You want me to take you home?"

"Can I stay here tonight?" She looked up at him. "I don't want to be alone."

"Isn't your dad home?"

"Please."

The vulnerability in her eyes weakened him, and he instantly nodded, keeping her tight in his arms. "I'll get my mom to clear it with your mom. She should be okay if you're staying with Paige." He flinched at the disappointed pout that took over her features. "Hey, hey, don't look at me like that. I want you with me too, but our parents are never going to go for it."

**-FP-**

"Gabby." Paige suddenly announced, interrupting the movie currently blaring on the tv screen. "You want me to teach you how to do your hair like that?"

Troy watched as his girlfriend barely glanced over at his cousin while shaking her head, cuddling further into his side. "Not right now."

"I'm sure Troy wouldn't mind watching the rest of the movie without us."

"He wouldn't mind watching it without you." Troy commented.

Paige rolled her eyes, smirking slightly. "You know, I think I preferred it when you weren't speaking, at least you let me near her then."

Troy ignored the comment, focusing on his girlfriend. He could tell she wasn't watching the movie, that she was deep in thought, and it was pretty obvious just what she was thinking about. He felt her grip tighten, then loosen as if she'd noticed it had happened, and he knew what was going on. She was scared.

Eventually he stood up, holding out a hand to his girlfriend when she shot him a questioning look. She wouldn't want to talk about it. He knew that. He also knew that if he'd have told her what was going on sooner, she probably wouldn't be feeling the way he guessed she was at that moment.

"Are you okay?" He sighed at her question as he closed the door to his room behind them.

"I'm meant to be asking that." He pointed out, watching as she sat down before approaching her. "but you're not."

"I will be."

He was surprised that she'd willingly admitted that she wasn't at that moment, he'd been prepared to have to fight the admittal out of her. "Talk to me."

"You didn't talk to me." She watched as he visibly flinched. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I guess I just..."

"You wish I had told you sooner?"

"Well, yeah." She bit her lip. "I get it. I get that you were trying to protect me, but I'm not a baby, I just... I didn't know that you thought I couldn't deal with things like that."

He sighed. "It's not that I didn't think you could. I know you could. I didn't want you to. I thought that if I could just give you one less thing to worry about..."

"It gave me even more to worry about." She verbalized what he'd been thinking for a while now. " I thought that you didn't want me anymore, but when I tried to let you go, you wouldn't let me, so I was confused. I guess I decided to hurt you back."

"I'm sorry." He sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I should never have let you feel that way. I shouldn't have let this get in the way of us."

"You shouldn't have." She agreed, leaning into him, settling into the silence before speaking up again. "Troy?" She paused. "What if he comes after me? He said he would."

Troy frowned. "That's why you're scared?" He watched as she nodded. "Don't go anywhere alone, okay? Just until I know he's gone. If you need time away from me, call Chad or someone. We can talk to your dad when I take you home tomorrow, he should know what's going on. I promise you, I won't let him near you. Not again."

She sighed, noting the look in his eye. "It's not your fault. You were trying to protect me. Misguided as that was, I can't blame you for that. You didn't know that he'd come near me."

"I thought about it." He admitted. "As soon as Paige told me that he was here. It was my first thought. I figured I was being paranoid. He doesn't know me. He had no way of knowing about you, so why would he go after you?" He paused. "If I'd have known..."

"Troy." She interrupted. "Don't blame yourself, and don't blame Paige either, she needed somewhere, it's not her fault that he found her, that he found me."

"If I'd have warned you." He began. "If I'd have told you as soon as I knew he was here..."

"It probably wouldn't have made a difference. From what Paige said, the day I met him was pretty soon after he got here. I was mad at you then, I probably would have done the same." Gabriella admitted. "If you'd have told me as soon as you found out," She paused "I would have been upset, yeah. Remembering what happened to Aunt Ana is always going to be hard, but I have to deal with it sometime, knowing that I'd have to deal with it eventually is part of the reason I told you. It was getting near to the anniversary of her death and usually I can avoid thinking about it any time except then. I knew if I didn't tell you, you'd freak out when I got distant."

"I still did freak out."

"In a good way." She reminded him. "You were there for me that week, in a way that no one else ever has been. My parents don't like to talk about it, Carlos used to get angry whenever I mentioned it. Ana's too young. I'd never had someone to talk to about it before, so I just stopped. It was the first year I'd really had to deal with it, after I told you, I knew that you wouldn't let me shut you out, so I had to deal with it. I just felt like, you kind of dealt with it too, and that made it easier."

"Seeing you like that." He elaborated. "It was one of the hardest times of my life. I didn't want you thinking about it more than you had to."

"I know." She accepted. "And I appreciate it, I really do. I just wish you weren't so protective sometimes."

"I can't change that."

"I know." She repeated. "Everything's going to be okay, isn't it?"

"Yeah." He decided. "Everything's going to be fine."

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	10. The End

**Update: Laptop has been replaced, so hopefully not so many long term disappearances. I'm really trying to get back into my writing. I have loads of ideas, ranging in fandom, so hopefully I'll get some of those written up soon. I'm prioritising those already started on here, because it is about time they were finished, but I can't promise that they will all be updated straight away. I don't want to update them because I feel like I have to, because that's when I get sloppy.**

**This isn't long, because in all honesty, since my laptop broke, I have completely forgotten how I planned to end it, and I couldn't find any notes or anything as to that, so this was pretty much just the result of reading through again.**

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"Ana?" Troy made his way into the kitchen, trying to locate the eight year old. He paused at the door as he watched her stick an onion above the window. "What are you doing?"

She turned to him, seriousness in her expression. "Daddy said there's a bad guy after Gabby." She turned back to the window. "I gotta make him go away."

"Okay?" He queried, still unsure as to why Ana seemed to be gluing food to the window frame. Or how she got the glue in the first place. "Why does that involve onions?"

Ana turned back to him, attempting to roll her eyes. "We don't have any arlic."

He furrowed his brow in confusion, pondering her words before he realised what she was saying. "Ana, he's not a vampire."

"Carlos said all boys are so he is and you."

Troy laughed, approaching her and lifting her off of the counter. "I think Carlos may have got his wires crossed."

"What does that mean?"

"That he isn't right."

"Carlos is _always_ right." Ana insisted. "He said." She ran over to the sink, turning on the tap to was her hands. "Where's Gabby?"

"She's upstairs." He answered. "She'll be down soon."

Ana shrugged, turning to him. "Carlos says you and Gabby kiss." She pulled a face.

"Um... Um..." Troy stuttered, caught out by the statement. "When did Carlos say that?"

"When you and Gabby went to see daddy and he said that daddy had to tell you off for kissing." Ana explained. "He says now you have to marry her." Ana nodded for emphasis, before a look of confusion took over her face. "Troy, what's marry?"

Troy hesitated again, and was relieved when his girlfriend chose that moment to make her entrance, seemingly unaware of the conversation her sister had started.

"Hey." She greeted, hugging him. "Sorry I took a while."

"It's fine." He stressed, smiling at her before glancing back over at Ana, hoping she wouldn't repeat her question. "Ana and I were talking about vampires." He watched as the little girl scowled, preparing to interrupt, and continued before she could. "You ready to go?"

She nodded, looking over to her sister. "Ana, did you put your shoes on like I asked?"

**-FP-**

Paige sighed as she looked down the street again, turning back to her father. "They did say they'd be here."

"We can't wait much longer, kid." David pointed out. "Beth and Robby are expecting us to be home for dinner. They want to celebrate."

"Not really much to celebrate." Paige shrugged. She glanced down the street again. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I can come home, but there's no guarantee that he'll stay away from me. His dad's word doesn't really mean much, he didn't stop him last time, and he didn't stop him from coming here."

"Beth and I want you home, Paige. Where we can protect you. Your aunt and uncle did great, but it's our job, and with Aiden still missing, we'd much rather you be with us."

She nodded. "I know. I'd rather be home, too. I like it here, but home, that's better." She smiled as she glanced down the street. "That's them!"

They waited until the car had come to a stop before approaching, and Troy stepped back as Gabriella hugged his cousin, clearly relieved that they had caught them. He moved to the back door of the car, opening the door for Ana, watching as she took in his cousin and her sister.

"Carlos says it's silly that girls hug a lot."

Paige laughed, looking over at her. "You must be Ana." She held out a hand. "Troy's told me a lot about you."

Ana looked down at her hand, then back up to her. "I'm a girl. We're meant to hug."

"Oh." Paige lowered her hand. "I thought that was silly."

"It is." Ana confirmed, watching the strange girl closely. "Where do you live?" She pointed to the house. "That's where Troy lives. I go there sometimes when daddy goes to work and mommy goes to eat lots of food and Gabriella is there."

"Paige." David interrupted. "We need to get going."

Paige nodded, and they watched as she got into the car, not wanting to drag out the goodbyes. "I'll call you when I get there." She waved towards the house, and Troy turned to see his parents watching from the door as the car pulled away.

Ana glanced around, annoyed that yet another of her questions had gone unanswered, and pulled on her sister's hand. "Can we get ice cream now?"

**-FP-**

Troy smiled as Gabriella re-entered the room, settling herself next to him on the couch. "She's set. Writing a novel or something. Won't let me see."

He nodded. "So we have some time?"

"Not for that." She laughed. "She's still just in the other room, she could come through at any time." She paused, "And dad should be back soon anyway."

"Good point." He acknowledged, "The last thing I need is hassle with your dad."

"He doesn't blame you, you know." She pointed out. "He just worries."

"I know." Troy admitted. "We talked about it that day we told him about Aiden. That's why he wanted to talk to me alone."

"What else did he want?"

"Honestly, it was kind of a lecture, in a way." He told her. "Your mom talked to him."

"She said she wouldn't."

"I'm glad she did." He decided. "I've made a lot of mistakes recently, and honestly, I listen to your dad more than I listen to mine."

"Because he scares you?" She joked, smiling.

"Yes." He laughed. "Because he scares me." He paused, waiting to continue. "It helped. He said he understood what I had been trying to do, and that he appreciates it, but keeping things from a woman is never a good idea, and I need to pick my battles wisely."

She laughed again. "Are you for real?"

He nodded. "That is what he said, honestly." He hesitated. "He also said that I only get one free pass for good intentions, and that if it happens again then he will hurt me."

"That sounds like my dad." Gabriella smiled. "So things are okay with you two?" She paused. "Not that I need you to get on, it's just, it'd help."

"Yeah. We're good." He assured her. "I think maybe even better than we were before. Definitely a good thing, especially now your sister has told me that kissing means we have to get married."

"What?"

"Carlos told her." He smiled. "I don't mind. I've decided to see it as Carlos wanting me around."

Gabriella laughed. "Of course he does."

"As long as you do," He commented. "I'm good."

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